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'Kid Nation': Viva la revolución!

October 18, 2007 | 9:37
am

Seems like there's a revolution every week, but it finally happened: the council shake-up. Taylor, the beauty queen who doesn't do dishes, is voted off the council, and Zach, the take-charge 10-year-old, takes his rightful position. It was a long time coming.

But what the heck happened with boy scout Mike?!?

Guylan, the quiet Massachusetts kid who admires Fidel Castro, had only been quoted a few times all season. A home-schooled 11-year-old with nothing to lose, he stepped up and grabbed the votes from the red team. It was a total sweep. It blindsided Mike, and it blindsided me. Mike's been doing a good job.

In other election news, Laurel is totally loved, and Anjay withstood a challenge from snarky Olivia(some posit that she's mean toward Anjay because of his faith). It's obvious the producers continue to introduce more and more societal structure into the camp (class, curfew, religion, elections), with each step bringing more chaos. Or is it more order?

And after the bullying, graffiti and cursing, old man Greg finally gets a star. His consoling of Sophie after Markell ripped up her campaign sign was probably what sealed it, but the kid's been working hard for a while now. $20,000 for college.

With a 2.1 rating (about 6.91 million viewers), the show is not anywhere near a runaway hit. But as it continues, critics have begun to praise it and ponder its social value. If you're not going to have a crowd-pleaser, you at least want a critics' favorite -- a show that invites disturbingly realistic parodies like this one: